I just added this one to my reading list. Sort of pricey but it sounds good and might be the definitive work on the subject?

http://www.myArmoury.com/books/item.php?ASIN=9004144099

Yep, that's what we've all been waiting for.

I can't wait to get it...on interlibrary loan.

Come on, Edward Hamilton! I need this one to be remaindered for $50.

OK. I'll publicly talk myself into this.

I've learned, with photography books, that great and expensive books often hit the remainder market for a fraction of their original cost. I've also learned that many do not, and as soon as they're out of print they can't be found for less than double their orignal price. So, waiting is a big gamble and not appropriate if you really need or want a book. Brill's books are obscenely overpriced because they're selling primarily to people who:

A). have so much invested in antiques that $179 is nothing

B). are buying for large institutions (universities, museums, etc.)

C). can deduct the price from their income taxes as a professional expense (curators, students, professors, dealers, etc.)

D). are sad-sacks like us who have none of the above advantages, but also have no alternative sources of information. There simply is nothing else out there like this book.

Consider that some medical journals cost university libraries $10,000 per year. There's a fine line between capitalism and gouging, but the market apparently bears these prices.

Plus, this is a European publisher. For some reason, books in Europe are vastly more expensive than in the U.S.

The bottom line is this: Most of us who are seriously interested in polearms wouldn't hesitate to spend a mere $179 to get the best reproduction polearm on the market, but that piece would tell us virtually nothing about the history of these weapons. For the same price, you can probably learn close to all that is currently known. So, I may have to just cowboy-up and spend for this book. Oh, the agony. But, oh, the joy when I get this thing in hand!

Good news! Barnes & Noble has this title for $144 or $129 with member discount. Do what I did: Buy the member discount for $25 and get 10 percent off of everything you buy for a year, starting with this essential title. I just got the book and a year-long membership for about $155. Free shipping. Can't beat that.

If you get one of these too, Russ, somebody somewhere in the publishing world is going to wonder why the state of Alabama has 50 percent of the known American copies of this book :lol:

That price would make Wizards of the Coast blush! Very tempting title, but :eek:

Yes, this is a good opportunity to remind folks that this site benefits when folks purchase titles from Amazon.com by getting to Amazon via this site. Plus, even with a discount, B&N isn't cheaper than Amazon in all cases, and they don't always offer the same titles.

The book looks very interesting, but I'm a little worried about spending so much before reading a review. It seems to be taken for granted here that the book is amazing, though, so I'm not sure.

Sean;

If you buy it soon you can give us " SCARED OFF BY THE PRICE " potential buyers a review so at least if it is exensive it will be well spent money.

I would love to have this book. It's increasingly hard for me to find books on swords that will tell me something I don't know. It's not that I'm an expert but rather that most of these books are a bit to general for me at this point. On the other hand, this one would truly tell me something I don't know, since I've never been much of a polearm guy until recently. I may have to break down and but this one some time.

I've located a copy of this book here in Sweden and have it on order fron an intra-library loan, I'll get back to you when/if I get it. (It's in the Royal Armoury (Livrustkammren) library so it might nog be available for an ILL.) It looks very interestign but the price is very high, bordering on ridiciously high. Brill charges high prices even for academic litteratur.

Or perhaps one of our members from Stockholm could do a quick stop at the Livrustkammare and have a look at the book for a quick review.

/Daniel

I'm confident that this book is the best thing available. For one thing, there just isn't much else out there on the subject. I know of only one English language title dedicated to these weapons, and it's really more of a (tiny) monograph (by Snook). Oakeshott's Ren.-Industrial Rev. chapter on polearms cites various non-English journal articles and early 20th c. books plus Blair's European and American Arms (which EO lists first in his bib). EO relies heavily on Blair's book, which is dirt-cheap on the used market. If you can't get the new book, you can learn a great deal about polearms from Blair for a fraction of the price. In fact, if you get both the Snook and Blair books you'll spend maybe $25 and have an excellent introduction to the subject (plus all the other fantastic stuff in Blair). Add Oakeshott and so much the better.

My main reason for confidence in the new book is that it's published by an academic press. In theory, at least, that means it's been well edited and reviewed by several experts in the field, each of whom has either signed off on the text as-is or asked for revisions, additions, etc.

I'm going to look into getting this book locally as I prefer this than waiting for the mailman to ring my doorbell. ( I can pick it up at the store when the order arrives. )

If the price is close or below Amazons' I may buy it here in Montréal. If I go the Amazon route I'll go through the links here.

If I find it today I guess I will jump on it unseen and become " THE " reviewer :lol:

I just got a copy of the book on interlibrary loan. An interesting read so far, but I'm glad I didn't pay $150 for it. Seems reasonably good at what it does, but not nearly as in depth as I'd like it to be on questions of polearm usage. He basically uses the same period quotations as Snook, and mostly or completely ignores manuals that cover polearms. Which is too bad, because di Grassi would provide solid support for his claim that halberd blades could cut plate, despite Schneider's test. He does, however, include plenty of artwork on the subject, which is wonderful.

He also only gives actually weights very rarely, even though he regularly mentions how heavy or light some weapon is. I can't stand that, but it is a common problem.

I just got my copy, and although I'll agree that it's not the right choice if you want to learn to use these weapons, it doesn't purport to offer such instruction and is otherwise outstanding, the best thing I've seen on the subject. Fantastic photos, and not just the usual mid-distance stuff but good detail shots showing construction, makers marks, etc. Extensive detailing of available measurements. Lots of full-color plates of contemporary artwork, most of which I'd never seen. This book is well-worth the price.

Chapters
General background and forerunners
Halberds
Portage of Arms by Untitled Swiss
Possible Early Halberd Forms
Extant Examples of Halberds
Halberds Elsewhere in Europe
"Oriental" Influences
Different Styles in Simultaneous Use
Fastenings, Poles and Finishing Procedures
The Use of Halberds (contemporary accounts, forensic evidence and experimental archaeology)
Halberds: Details of Rapid Identification (13-17th centuries)
Glaives
Bills
Partizans
The Morgenstern Group
Ahlspiesse
Axes and Axe Derivatives
The Guisarme and Bardiche
The Brandistocco, Corseke and Related Weapons
Vouge and Couteau de Bréche
The Military Scythe
The Jedburgh Staff and Lochaber Axe
The Doloir
Conservation and Restoration of Polearms
The Marketplace
List of Marks (photos of 32 marks)
Bibliography (around 130 titles)